Manuel Pellegrini: "We need to think about the next game"

The new West Ham boss remains positive after a 4-0 defeat to the title candidates, Liverpool.

Manuel Pellegrini was not full of praise for his West Ham side during the post-match press conference after the Premier League opener against Liverpool.

The Chilean was fairly critical of his side following a 4-0 loss at Anfield on the opening weekend of the season. The Reds ran riot courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Daniel Sturridge.

Pellegrini admitted the match against last season's Champions League finalists was 'always going to be difficult' but said there are 'no excuses' for the manner of the defeat.

No excuses for the final score

The 64-year old was expecting a very tough start to his 2018/2019 Premier League campaign with the Hammers, but it clearly wasn't the start he wanted.

"It was tough before the game, during the game and after the game," said the recently-appointed West Ham manager.

"We knew we were playing one of the best teams in the Premier League; a team that is a solid, a team that played in the final of the Champions League, a teamthat brought in some good players this year and last year."

The former Manchester City manager admitted that everyone knew that the game "was going to be difficult", but added later that "Liverpool deserved to win" as well as saying that his side has "no excuses" for the final score which was a perfect summary of the frustrating game for both the players and the fans.

Pellegrini then continued by saying what went wrong during the match that made the final scoreline so high. He particularly alluded to the mood in the dressing room.

"We conceded in the first half and then had two or three clear chances to draw level, then conceded in the last second of the period so when we arrived in the dressing room it was tough," he said.

The Premier League winner also stated that "the offside goal decided the game" as Liverpool "got a lot of confidence from that to play" and close the game off when 3-0 up.

He also explained his view on the unfortunate offside goal. "I am not complaining about just the offside goal," He said. "Liverpool played well and deserved to win but I don't think the difference was four goals."

Difficult start for the newcomers

Manuel Pellegrini was already aware of the issues which could be provided by the number of signings made in the transfer window in his pre-match interview, although he seems confident that his 'new system' and hard work will bring joy for the fans in the near future.

"Every time that you bring in so many players it is difficult to adapt to a new system but we are just starting the season," said the former Real Madrid boss.

"We need to continue working hard, analyse this game and think about the next game where we will be better". He also told the reports that when picking the team for the next game he is going to see which players are in their "best moment."

The Chilean then made comments about what needs to improve for the next game against Bournemouth."If you want to do the judgement about the score," he said. We must be clear that we didn't attack well, we didn't create too many chances in the second half."

"We need to improve so in that sense, I just spoke about some balls that decide the game but we need to be clear and sure that we need to improve." He added.